SH/OP
Supporting Health
with Organic Produce

A FREE twice-monthly organic produce distribution for people with cancer, HIV/AIDS, and autoimmune disorders
Upcoming
Board Meeting
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019 at 4pm-5pm
This will be a potluck gathering to discuss our upcoming winter board elections. We welcome anyone who would like to be more involved. For more information, contact Melinda or Mia.
Produce Distribution
Saturday, September 28th, 2019 at 2pm
904 Daniel Ct., Santa Cruz, CA 95062
2019 Season
We are going to begin our sixth season this May and are finding ourselves in need of a strong volunteer base. We have had several key volunteers move out of state, graduate from UCSC, or suffer health setbacks. We are now considering cutting back to two Saturday distributions a month, instead of a distribution every week.
This is where we hope you can come in. We would love to have you check our website here, which will give you lots of information about our volunteer program.
What we need
Besides the obvious pickup and distribution of produce, we would love to find:
- people who can do outreach to the various organizations where our client population comes from
- people who are good at asking for donations or acting as a liaison with our organic farmers
- people who have experience with grants
In other words, if food justice is on your agenda, we will find a place for you.
Our most pressing volunteer need is for folks who can regularly (weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly) help pick up produce from three farmers' markets on Saturday. It is a long Saturday—we can use you for the whole day (11-3:30), or just for pickup or clean up.
We especially need people with vans, trucks, or larger vehicles who can drive to transport produce and supplies. With more volunteers, we also hope to get our delivery program back on schedule.
Here is what you get:
- We are more of a community than many free food distributions. We have open meetings, potlucks and are just a good group of people to know.
- You also get free produce. Our produce is excellent quality and only organic. We will have an abundance of it and you are welcome to shop after clients and take as much as you can use.
What could be better than good people, good community and organic produce? We also welcome any kids, to make this a family affair. (Yes, we can sign off on community service hours as well.)
WE NEED YOU!
Updates
SH/OP featured in Good Times!
A big thank-you to Cat Johnson and the Good Times newspaper for the beautifully supportive article!
Thank you, Connection Magazine!
Connection Magazine has generously provided advertising for SH/OP in their monthly magazine. Connection Magazine is a terrific free resource for healthy living & conscious lifestyles. Pick up a copy around town, or visit their website.
Statement of Purpose
We are a group of people in the Santa Cruz community who are beginning a free food project designed to supply organic produce to people with cancer and HIV. After much lively discussion, we decided to call this group SH/OP: Supporting Health with Organic Produce. We are sponsored by Chadeish Yameinu Jewish Renewal Community of Santa Cruz, and have the personal endorsement of Scott Roseman, founder of New Leaf Community Markets. While we have many goals, ideas and philosophies, our one unifying belief is that there is enough. Our commitment to you is to approach everything we do in the SH/OP organization from the platform of abundance, rather than scarcity.
We envision this project as being three-pronged; we honor the health of our bodies, our community, and our earth. Distribution of organic produce enhances the health and healing of our bodies. We have formed this group as a collective, using a consensus-based decision-making model which we believe offers a model of healing for us as a community. Finally, we honor the Earth by supporting organic farming and making sure that all of the materials that we use are as earth-friendly as possible.
We do realize that there are other food distribution projects that happen in Santa Cruz using the bounty from the market. Ours will be different. We have a very specific community we are trying to reach. Our goal is to be service-oriented as well as providing organic produce. We are also setting up a blog that will provide information about the nutritional aspects of different veggies and fruits as well as recipes. We will attempt to answer the age-old question, “just what can I do with six bunches of dandelion greens?”
We will provide “green” disposable food handler loose gloves, recognizing the absolute need to not spread or bacteria and virus to people whose immunity has been compromised through chemotherapy. We believe that every aspect of this project should support health.
Forgive our lack of brevity and let us just sum this up by stating that our foremost commitment is to make produce accessible to people with cancer and HIV and have the process be a safe one that values the dignity of all people.
How to Volunteer
Interested in volunteering? Please get in touch at produceforhealth@gmail.com, or call (831) 475-3327. (Tip: We'll be able to respond faster if you reach us by email!)
Volunteers are the crux of our program. Each year we’ve grown both our base of clients and growers, and it takes a lot of volunteers for us to keep that up!
There are many ways to volunteer with SH/OP. There is, of course, the need for reliable and consistent people for Saturdays. We usually start preparing for produce pickup around 11:00. This includes getting boxes, loading up tables for the church, and then getting to the markets. After market produce pickup, we head for our distribution site and start setup while we wait for the markets in Scotts Valley and on the Westside. We then distribute produce for about an hour, then get spare produce to the Grey Bears organization, and do a cleanup.
Apart from our distribution, we also have opportunities for volunteers to help with the organizational aspect of the program. We have open meetings, and we would love to have you come take part.
We especially need volunteers who:
Have some experience with grant writing, PR, fundraising, and procurement of supplies. As the season progresses, we also need volunteers who can help with our gleaning program. With a strong volunteer base, we can restart our delivery program.
Let us know what your primary interests are, and let’s see if we can find a place where your talents can be put to good use!
We do require a volunteer orientation that takes about an hour, and will be held once a month beginning Mid-March.
Again, please get in touch at produceforhealth@gmail.com, or call (831) 475-3327
Founding Members
Jorge Arreguin, Matt Parcher, Linda BloomBecker, Mia BloomBecker, Melinda White, Adrian Gludt, and Megan Waterman
Thank You
Thank you to our sponsors, supporters, and farmers
- New Natives Farm
- Bar-D Ranch
- K T Farm
- Webb’s Farm
- Pinnacle Farm
- Blue Heron Farms
- Borba Farms
- Vasquez Farms
- Stackhouse Brothers Orchards
- Windmill Farm
- P & K Farms
- Spade & Plow Organics
- Route 1 Farms
- Rancho Padre Farm
- Kashiwase Farms
- Live Earth Farm
- Swanton Berry Farm
- Casalegno Family Farm
- Serendipity Organic Farm
- Groundswell Farm
- Rodoni Farms
- Happy Boy Farms
- Dirty Girl Produce
- Ken’s Top Knotch Produce
- Chadeish Yameinu Jewish Renewal Community of Santa Cruz
- Trinity Presbyterian Church
- Scott Roseman
- Cara Lamb
- Trader Joe's & New Leaf Community Markets, for the assortment of delivery bags
- Target & Palace Arts of Santa Cruz, for their generous donations of supplies
Get in touch: email produceforhealth@gmail.com, or call (831) 475-3327
(Tip: We'll be able to respond faster if you reach us by email!)